A Computational Method based on Radio Frequency Technologies for the Analysis of Accessibility of Disabled People in Sustainable Cities

The sustainability strategy in urban spaces arises from reflecting on how to achieve a more habitable city and is materialized in a series of sustainable transformations aimed at humanizing different environments so that they can be used and enjoyed by everyone without exception and regardless of their ability. Modern communication technologies allow new opportunities to analyze efficiency in the use of urban spaces from several points of view: adequacy of facilities, usability, and social integration capabilities. The research presented in this paper proposes a method to perform an analysis of movement accessibility in sustainable cities based on radio frequency technologies and the ubiquitous computing possibilities of the new Internet of Things paradigm. The proposal can be deployed in both indoor and outdoor environments to check specific locations of a city. Finally, a case study in a controlled context has been simulated to validate the proposal as a pre-deployment step in urban environments

The Accessible Toilet Design Resource

This Accessible Toilet Design Resource has been produced from new primary research carried out within VivaCity 2020, a large university-based research consortium that is developing tools and resources to support the design of socially inclusive cities. The consortium is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It was set up in 2003 and will complete its work in 2008. The Resource is concerned primarily with the design of the accessible toilet cubicle that should be provided for customer or public use wherever there is standard toilet provision. Though it may make reference to other types of toilet cubicles, urinals, automatic public conveniences (APCs) or grouped toilet provision, the location and design of these facilities are not addressed in great detail here. The location and design of accessible toilet facilities merits this independent, detailed scrutiny because it is essential to provide these facilities and to design them correctly, so that disabled people can participate on equal terms to able-bodied people in every aspect of city life

The Accessible Toilet Resource

Extract: This Accessible Toilet Design Resource has been produced from new primary research carried out within VivaCity 2020, a large university-based research consortium that is developing tools and resources to support the design of socially inclusive cities. The consortium is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It was set up in 2003 and will complete its work in 2008. The Resource is concerned primarily with the design of the accessible toilet cubicle that should be provided for customer or public use wherever there is standard toilet provision. Though it may make reference to other types of toilet cubicles, urinals, automatic public conveniences (APCs) or grouped toilet provision, the location and design of these facilities are not addressed in great detail here. The location and design of accessible toilet facilities merits this independent, detailed scrutiny because it is essential to provide these facilities and to design them correctly, so that disabled people can participate on equal terms to able-bodied people in every aspect of city life

An automated approach to enrich OpenStreetMap data on footways

Urbanization and the rising global life expectancy are shaping the 21st century, and an increasing number of the older and disabled population is expected, emphasizing the need of developing age-friendly and accessible cities for all. The disabled population encounters barriers in accessing public services that able-bodied people do not, especially on footways. OpenStreetMap (OSM) data is applied in many routing applications for disabled people but does still lack a considerable amount of accessibility information, for example, only less than 2% of OSM footpaths in the city of Zurich contain inclination information. This thesis aims to enrich OSM footpaths in the city of Zurich automatically with inclination information derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and investigate the influence of inclination-enriched data on spatial accessibility. The spatial accessibility of three population groups (younger adults, older adults, and manual wheelchair users) to six main service providers (Healthcare Services, Daily Shopping, Public Services, Education, Leisure and Sports, Food and Drinks) was analysed using three different Floating Catchment Area (FCA) methods including 2SFCA, E2SFCA, and KD2SFCA. OSM footpaths were successfully enriched with inclination information using a high-resolution DEM. Results of the spatial accessibility analysis showed differences in the influence of accessibility enriched footpath data per population group, where manual wheelchair users were most affected in their spatial accessibility. Results from the 2SFCA method showed smallest areas that changed but a higher magnitude in change than the other two FCA methods, which yielded similar results. Furthermore, deprived areas concerning accessibility in the city of Zurich were found for all population groups and service providers in different areas of the city. The accessibility enriched footpath data can be used in spatial accessibility analysis, however, the data was not uploaded to OSM, as in other studies that applied an automated enrichment of OSM data. It can be concluded that mobility-impaired people such as manual wheelchair users are most affected by accessibility inhibiting barriers such as inclination. Furthermore, deprived areas concerning spatial accessibility are mainly found in areas where low accessibility and high demand and supply concur or when accessibility and supply are low. The results of this thesis confirmed the vulnerability of the mobility-impaired population in accessing public facilities, which strengthens the need for further research and development of an accessible city for all. Moreover, first insights in areas with lower spatial accessibility in the city of Zurich were made, which gives a basis for more in-depth research in this matter. The applied methods can be replicated if the necessary data is available

Participatory Sensing and Crowdsourcing in Urban Environment

With an increasing number of people who live in cities, urban mobility becomes one of the most important research fields in the so-called smart city environments. Urban mobility can be defined as the ability of people to move around the city, living and interacting with the space. For these reasons, urban accessibility represents a primary factor to keep into account for social inclusion and for the effective exercise of citizenship. In this thesis, we researched how to use crowdsourcing and participative sensing to effectively and efficiently collect data about aPOIs (accessible Point Of Interests) with the aim of obtaining an updated, trusted and completed accessible map of the urban environment. The data gathered in such a way, was integrated with data retrieved from external open dataset and used in computing personalized accessible urban paths. In order to deeply investigate the issues related to this research, we designed and prototyped mPASS, a context-aware and location-based accessible way-finding system

Developing a home assessment instrument for the disabled elderly.

Senior citizens are a rapidly growing portion of our population. This large group of older people has increased the demand for commercial accessible housing such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Due to the inflexible design of older homes, the elderly have been forced to move to in such types of housing. The high price of nursing homes and the strong desire the elderly have to remain in their existing homes support the need for a more cost effective and accessible way to live. Therefore, it was the purpose of this research project to develop an assessment instrument to determine the degree of accessibility of an existing older home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which is representative of an older home typically inhabited by the elderly. An assessment instrument was developed to evaluate accessibility in the areas of mobility and visual disability. At the end of this thesis study one can use the results of this assessment instrument to create designs correcting problems relating to these inaccessible areas as they are identified by the instrument. Also included in the development of this instrument were considerations for elements that research has indicated increases the quality of life for the elderly. After using the newly designed assessment instrument on the home utilized for this case study, the noncompliant elements were identified and addressed. New design solutions were drawn in order to illustrate the method used to rectify the problem areas and elements identified as insufficient by the assessment instrument. An effort to create design solutions that were aesthetically pleasing that did not appear institutionalized was also a goal of this research project

European regulatory framework for person carrier robots

The aim of this paper is to establish the grounds for a future regulatory framework for Person Carrier Robots, which includes legal and ethical aspects. Current industrial standards focus on physical human–robot interaction, i.e. on the prevention of harm. Current robot technology nonetheless challenges other aspects in the legal domain. The main issues comprise privacy, data protection, liability, autonomy, dignity, and ethics. The paper first discusses the need to take into account other interdisciplinary aspects of robot technology to offer complete legal coverage to citizens. As the European Union starts using impact assessment methodology for completing new technologies regulations, a new methodology based on it to approach the insertion of personal care robots will be discussed. Then, after framing the discussion with a use case, analysis of the involved legal challenges will be conducted. Some concrete scenarios will contribute to easing the explanatory analysis